At the end of last season, Fort Dale Academy made the decision to move from the shotgun to the pistol.

On Friday, the Eagles came out firing.

Fort Dale threw for 618 yards and rushed for another 350 yards in a scrimmage with Wilcox Academy and Morgan Academy in Camden.

“Obviously no one played any pass defense,” Fort Dale head coach James “Speed” Sampley said. “At the same time, I thought we played pretty well. We’re working on a new offense, and we were able to get some experience.”

Friday’s scrimmage was the Eagles’ first test with their new pistol offense.

In the pistol formation the quarterback lines up four yards behind the center rather than seven yards, as with the shotgun formation. The running back lines up three yards directly behind the quarterback, as opposed to next to him as in the shotgun.

The new offense helped the Eagles account for 12 touchdowns.

“We still have a lot to work on, but I saw some good things,” Sampley said. “Our snap exchange isn’t where it needs to be, and our timing isn’t there yet, but we’ll get there.”

Defensively, Fort Dale allowed just four touchdowns.

“We didn’t keep score, but I felt like our guys did a good job of competing,” Sampley said.